Abt Earthlings

All month long I have kept a log of the plastic waste I was creating. And what it came down to, for the most part, was convenience and volume. If I forgot to make lunch and wanted something, healthy or not, it was in plastic - sandwiches, salads,  and anything microwavable. If I wanted something other that water, it was more readily available...

I'm a bit discouraged about the difficulty I have had with the plastic-free challenge. I did reflect more on my choices, but that is only the first step toward change.

This is hard!  Trader Joe's is a very convenient stop on my way home for dinner supplies.  But they individually wrap many items unnecessarily.  3 peppers wrapped in plastic, grapes in a hard plastic box, etc. 

Just posted on neighborhood page re: cleanup and plastic trash audit that we'll be doing with other families this weekend. Watched a good documentary called Plastic Paradise (http://plasticparadisemovie.com/) with the kids last night to get them motivated (although they professed to be more bored than motivated). Also found a good guide to...

Found this nonprofit online -- https://4ocean.com/about/ -- which is raising money selling bracelets made from plastic removed from the ocean to fund more plastic removal from the oceans, with each bracelet supporting the removal of one pound of plastic. I think I'll order a couple at least for prizes for kids who participate in our...

I'm traveling today and didn't do well with prep that would help me avoid single use plastics. I was on another trip until yesterday afternoon and left very early this morning. This has reinforced to me the trade-offs in our current systems between convenience and environmental impact. It's disheartening to be committed to reducing my...

I talked to my dental hygienist about plastic free options and she said you don’t even really need toothpaste to brush! The most important thing it does is act as a medium to get fluoride back into your teeth. But she didn’t have a great solution for how to get fluoride plastic free and I haven’t found one yet either, so I’m still working on...

I straight up said in my post about this challenge that I was signaling my virtue to my friends. :) Also, people are more likely to take actions when they know others in their circle are doing the same thing. For example, I was inspired to join this challenge by the posts of a friend of mine. Belonging to a group of colleagues also made me feel...

What concerns me is how we measure the value of time over the volume of our waste. My family recently rented a house and packed the Keruig to save time on all the different types of beverages they wanted - tea, dark roast, blonde, hot chocolate. To them, this was not only a time saver but a saver on gas from going to the coffee shop that was...

This little gem saves me everyday. Its still plastic itself but one year of nearly daily use and its still of sound structure.